Is GRUNTING good for the success and integrity of the game or is it turning more people and sponsors away? When all is said and done, the greater good of the game needs to come before individual players and what they choose to do. Everything should be done to maximise the number of people who watch broadcast tennis, support the game by attending in person and their level of enjoyment whilst doing so.
Many sponsorship dollars are going begging as so many people find the grunting too irritating, so cannot bear to watch when it occurs so much. See part 1 of this series by clicking this link-> Sign the GRUNTING in Tennis Petition #1.
Once noise hindrance by grunting is added to the code, players who grunt would be subject to the usual code of conduct process. For grunting it would be ideal to add a new third offence condition so that being defaulted becomes the penalty for a fourth offence i.e. that a warning is issued for a 1st offence, one point penalty for a second offence, losing a game for a third offence and being defaulted from the match for a fourth offence.
The grunting has gotten so out of hand that people post tennis players grunting on You Tube because they think the grunting is so ridiculous and extreme that it is funny. Surely, this does not add to the integrity of the game.
The rules of tennis give the umpire the power to award a point against a player if the umpire believes that player has hindered his or her opponent. This power is supplied via the hindrance rule.
When a grunt lasts into their opponents’ preparation of their stroke then the receiving player’s shot is certainly being hindered. Grunting loudly enough through the collision of the ball and racquet to disguise the telltale sound of the ball coming off the racquet gives the grunter an unfair advantage.
Not being able to hear the ball off the racquet throws off your timing and makes it harder to judge the ball for your own stroke. Try playing with headphones on so you cannot hear. For those tennis coaches who are teaching their players to grunt in order to intimidate their opponent, we challenge you to use your coaching skill to get results for your players rather than reinforcing this unsportsmanlike conduct.
Coaching players to deliberately grunt is stupid and if you are being taught to grunt then you should look for a new coach, as your current coach is most likely all talk and no substance.
There is a physiological advantage to exhaling rather than choosing to grunt. Exhaling during the exertion phase of any exercise means you will preserve energy, reduce anxiety and tension and be able to perform the movement more effectively. The longer, slower and closer to full exhalation you achieve the better off you will be because your movements are more likely to be long and smooth, just like Roger Federer at his peak. Federer served 50 aces in the 2009 Wimbledon final and he does NOT grunt.
Tennis officials are considering classifying grunting as a noise hindrance and adding this to the ITF Code of Conduct. This petition will be forwarded to the International Tennis Federation (ITF), once there are 100 signatories and every 100 thereafter, so please add your comment below OR on part 1 of “Sign the GRUNTING in Tennis Petition”, to reinforce that grunting is hurting the game and MANY people feel that way.
To read about further details and reasons in support of making grunting a noise hindrance see part 1 by clicking this link-> Sign the GRUNTING in Tennis Petition #1. Pictured above is MARIA SHARAPOVA!!!
Photo credit: alphababy
Grunting and screaming is utterly annoying and is very definitely used to advantage by the grunters. They are cheating their opposing player – pure and simple. It should be banned outright on a sliding scale where they lose a point and then progressively lose the game and if it continues lose the match.
I am so sick of it….3 second all-out screams for Sharapova with each shot! Ugh…sounds like a cow giving birth! I love women’s tennis, but they are ruining it. Somebody FIX this! All i can do is hope Bartoli beats her to end my suffering. This problem will only get worse as the young players see it and learn that it’s ok. If nothing else, they should allow fans to scream and yell during points as well….at least that would drown out the annoying grunts from the courts.
Not necessary with every shot. Very annoying and distracting for other players, and the fans. Keep the screaming in the bedroom.
Kirilenko and Azarenka are playing right now in London 2012 and it is so annoying I have to put the TV on MUTE and miss the commentary.
On the PLUS side, the volume is already down and I don’t have to listen to the commercials from the sponsors either… It is difficult to see how the sponsors can view that as a good thing.
Its a good decision of banning it and i fully agree with this
Get rid of it. It’s totally annoying
Grunting is not necessary.
Grunting is irritating and not necessary!
And yes, they definitely need to do something about what is being referred to as “grunting” It’s out of control.
I don’t how it is the term grunting ever came into vogue when it comes to what some of the women tennis players are doing. It doesn’t at all capture the exhibition some of them put on display, especially not Azarenka. There’s a hilarious video on youtube. Azarenka grunts, Elizabeth Bennet provides commentary and John McEnroe has the final say on the matter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX1vd6ROdOE
BAN ALL GRUNTING. Not necessary, annoying and borderline cheating.
In favor of no grunting
I agree great no more grunting
Sure I agree ban the grunting
Excellent, no more grunting!
Sure I agree, ban it!